AFTRS alumni have secured six awards for their work at the 2020 ATOM Tertiary & Industry Awards, one of Australia’s longest-running film and media awards celebrating the best of local screen content from the education and screen industry.
Writer/director Julie Kalceff’s AACTA-nominated series, First Day has been awarded Best Children’s Television Program. Since its debut on ABC Me earlier this year, First Day has been picked up by several international broadcasters including Hulu in the United States and BBC in the UK, won the Children and Youth Rose d’Or Award, screened at the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival and was named a runner up in Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK)’s JAPAN PRIZE international contest.
Karen Pearlman’s AACTA-nominated (Master of Arts (Film & Television) Editing – 2000) short film, I Want to Make a Film About Women, scored by Caitlin Yeo (Graduate Diploma in Screen Composition, 2002), and showcasing production design by Valentina Iastrebova (Diploma in Screen Design, 2016), collected both Best Docudrama and Best Documentary – Biography. In recent months the short has won St Kilda Film Festival’s Best Direction Award, CinefestOz’s $5,000 Best Direction Prize, received an ADG nomination and screened at Sydney, Brisbane and Revelation Film Festivals, among others.
The award for Best Documentary – Science, Technology & the Environment was awarded to The Leadership, directed by Ili Baré and produced by alumnus Greer Simpkin (Graduate Certificate in Business Administration (Creative Industries), 2010). The feature documentary, which made its debut at the 2020 Sydney Film Festival has recently earned editor Lindi Harrison (Specialist Extension Certificate Editing, 1993) the Ellie Award for Best Editing in Feature Documentary.
Rounding out this year’s AFTRS alumni winners is ABC Me series Are You Tougher Than Your Ancestors?, created, written and produced by Vanna Morosini (Advanced Diploma in Screenwriting: Series Television, 2016) which won the ATOM Award for Best Factual Television Series.
This year’s ATOM Tertiary & Industry Awards were presented in a virtual ceremony on Thursday 10 December. See the full list of winners and find out more about the event here.
Best Children’s Television Program
First Day
Writer/director: Julie Kalceff
Cinematographer: Velinda Wardell (Master of Arts: Film, Television and Digital Media Cinematography, 2005)
Costume designer: Rebecca Romans (Graduate Certificate in Costume Design, 2013)
Sound recordist: Martin Demian (Graduate Diploma in Sound, 2012)
Sound designer: Lana Kristensen (Graduate Diploma in Sound, 2014)
Grip: Marcus Stimson (Graduate Certificate in Editing Drama, 2011)
Best Factual Television Series
Are You Tougher Than Your Ancestors?
Creator/producer/writer: Vanna Morosini (Advanced Diploma in Screenwriting: Series Television, 2016)
Best Fiction Feature Film
Unsound
Director: Ian Watson (Graduate Certificate Screen: Creative Producing, 2018)
Producer: Tsu Shan Chambers (Graduate Certificate Screen: Creative Producing, 2018)
Editor: Scott Walmsley (Master of Arts: Film & Television, 2008)
Cinematographer – Kent Marcus (Graduate Diploma of Cinematography, 2013)
Co-Producer/Assistant Editor/Data Wrangler – Brian Chambers (Diploma of Editing, 2018)
Best Docudrama
I Want to Make a Film About Women
Director/producer/editor: Karen Pearlman (Master of Arts (Film & Television) Editing, 2000)
Music: Caitlin Yeo (Graduate Diploma in Screen Composition, 2002)
Production designer: Valentina Iastrebova (Diploma in Screen Design, 2016)
Best Documentary – Biography
I Want to Make a Film About Women
Best Documentary – Science, Technology & the Environment
The Leadership
Director: Ili Baré
Producer: Greer Simpkin (Graduate Certificate in Business Administration (Creative Industries), 2010)
Editor: Lindi Harrison (Specialist Extension Certificate Editing, 1993)
